Hypocrisy
by Mistystarshine
Summary: Diana always had trouble accepting what she couldn't understand, and Dekka was certainly something she didn't understand, and so she suffered for it. A discovery, her heart skipping beats right when things should be simple, and a little hypocrisy might change that though. AU, Caina


**AN: So, I really should be writing another chapter in Returned or Silence, or both. In my defense I got part of a Silence chapter done but I had my first day back at school today and don't feel like I can pull anything long enough to make a real, decent chapter. Plus I've had this idea floating around in my mind for a while. So here, have a pre-FAYZ AU Caina oneshot! :D Not AU as in the FAYZ doesn't happen, AU as in, well… you'll see.**

**Disclaimer: I, Mistystarshine, do not own Gone or the characters.**

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

The teachers of Coates Academy liked to think that they were in charge of the place, that they ruled what went on in there. But that was not true, not really. Sure, they controlled the grades and what classes you ended up in. They were the ones that could send you home, either having been thrown out, which took quite a bit of effort to make happen in a place where they put the outcasts, or as having graduated. But there was another system in the works, the system of the kids. The school 'food chain', if you wanted to call it that. Those at the top of the food chain controlled the school.

And who was at the top? She was.

Well, not just her alone. There was also Drake Merwin, the disturbed boy that struck fear into the hearts of others for what harm he might cause them. She was Diana Ladris, and while she too caused fear it was for an entirely different reason. She could destroy your social life in one foul swoop; take you from the top to the bottom. Blackmail, manipulation, and lying, those were her specialties. Anyone that showed weakness was prey, and to be different was to be weak in her eyes. Not different as in troubled, almost everyone here was that, different as in an undesirable, an outsider.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

Dekka Talent was the perfect picture of an undesirable in her eyes. Not because of her skin color, personally Diana couldn't care less what pigmentation she was. No, it was because of her _preferences_. The fact was that the other girl preferred women over men. And, while Diana would swear up and down that she wasn't a homophobe, sometimes she wondered if she had gotten so good at lying that she could lie even to herself. The fact was that Dekka's attractions seemed strange to her eyes, _wrong_. So what did she do about it? She gave her hell, of course. At first she had tried to seduce the other girl like she had so many boys, only to find that while Dekka seemed to be attracted to her physically she wouldn't fall under her control that easily. So she had stopped going about that route, turning to blackmail and threats. Mocking her about her sexuality, saying that she would reveal her secret to the entire school if she made a single step in the wrong direction.

While she had no doubt that the idea of this scared Dekka, Coates was far from a forgiving place after all, she refused to back down. It seemed that she was rather strong. This only served to upset Diana, make her desire to pull her down even stronger. And so, when she read the girl and discovered her three bars she had immediately turned to Caine, saying that when the time came to reveal that they knew of her power, whatever it was, she could give her an ultimatum, join them or let everything come out in the open and be ostracized by the entire school.

Caine agreed.

She failed to notice how uncomfortable he looked.

Caine, now there was the opposite of an undesirable in her eyes. The leader of the trio that was himself, her, and Drake, he was a deadly combination of the two with a charisma that could not be matched. The unofficial leader of the school no one would dare go up against him. Besides, even if they did they had nothing that could be used to tear him down. Caine was untouchable. Except, maybe, by emotion. For Caine liked Diana and as more than just a friend. She knew this, heck, she was pretty sure that most of the population of Coates Academy knew this. Fearless leader, the all-powerful four bar, was in love with her. Of course she didn't return his feelings, or at least, that was what she told herself.

Never mind how he could make her heart skip a beat at times.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

Believe it or not Coates was a pretty safe place. Well, in a way. Sure you had plenty to fear from the students at times but the chances of an accident were pretty low. Low, but not non-existent. And sometimes, once in a blue moon, accidents happened. Accidents could happen because of tiny things that they always warned you not to do as a kid but you never took seriously, like running with scissors. This was how this had all started, running with scissors.

Caine had, reluctantly, agreed to help her with her science project and agreed to come to her dorm to help her with it. Thankfully Taylor was away from school for a little while, on vacation with her family or something, Diana couldn't be bothered to remember, or the rumors probably would have spread like a wildfire. Upon failing to find a scissors in her room she sent the ever-annoyed Caine to fetch his. When he came back he moved a bit too fast, tripped, and fell, sharp side up.

The resulting cut across his stomach hadn't been too deep, nothing deadly, nothing that would need more than a few stiches as a matter of fact. But Diana hadn't known that at the time and, upon seeing the blood starting to seep through his shirt, insisted that he take it off. This caused quite a protest, much more that she had expected, and in the end she practically had to pull it off. Why in god's name Caine would be so against revealing his chest she didn't understand, if anything she expected someone as vain as him would be glad for a little shirtless time. Besides, it would do no good if they couldn't see the wound.

As soon as the shirt was off she understood why.

Caine didn't throw her through a wall in a mighty display of telekinetic power, because this was _Diana_, no matter how much trouble she would probably end up giving him later on. She didn't return his feelings, everyone knew this, and there was no way she ever would now that his little secret, one he had no doubt she would consider worse than Dekka's, was out.

Wrapped across his chest were bindings and Caine refused to meet her gaze. No, he had never been exceedingly muscular but there was no way she could have suspected this. After all the torment he, she, she didn't know what to call Caine at the moment, had put other kids through along with her this was more than a little hypocritical.

Caine wanted to say something, she could tell, but he couldn't bring himself to. Diana also wanted to say something, _anything_, but couldn't find the words. Finally she glanced at the wound, slowing in bleeding, and murmured in a blank voice, "we're going to the nurse, you'll need stitches."

They walked there in silence, refusing to make eye contact.

It was not until Caine had been sewn up and Diana was about to leave that he finally said, "my parents… they didn't send me here for doing drugs."

Diana's voice was numb as she replied, "I see."

Then she walked out, unsure of what to think, what to do. Caine was a girl, or at least had the body of a girl. And was certainly attracted to girls. Diana wasn't, and she didn't particularly like people like that, abnormalities, and there was no way she would have ever let someone that kept a secret like _that_ get away without the whole school finding out.

So why was a part of her still worried?

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

Dekka wasn't blind. Not that the other kids at Coates Academy were, Caine was rather good at keeping his physical gender a secret after all, not to mention that the teachers seemed to have accepted it to allow him to sleep in a boy's dorm and everything. But somehow she had figured it out. No, she couldn't pinpoint the exact moment it happened, but somewhere along the line it clicked. Maybe because she couldn't help but feel sympathetic. It hadn't been too long ago that she had been terrified of someone finding out about her sexuality after all.

She also knew when Diana found out. The two began to avoid each other, not even looking at each other except for occasional glances that the other always missed. She could picture it all too well, Caine waiting for her to strike out and tear him down and Diana trying to make herself, unable to figure out why she couldn't. After all, Caine was no longer untouchable, not by her anyway, and from what Dekka had experienced she wouldn't be very fond of him after discovering.

But then again, humans were hypocritical creatures.

~.~.~.~.~.~

She couldn't stand it. She felt confused, she felt angry, she felt betrayed. Caine had lied to her, had lied to her for all this time. Why?

But then again, why wouldn't he? She had given him plenty of reason to hide this little factoid from her after all.

Somewhere along the line she had started to think of Caine as a 'he' again, no longer trying to separate it in her mind. Caine had been born with the body he had, yes, but that had never stopped him from acting the way he did, did it? And he was definitely a he, no matter what genetics might have to say on the matter.

But that didn't change the fact that he had hidden this from her, that he was physically female. She should be repulsed. And yet when she looked at him she still felt her heart skip a beat through the incredible sadness that had made its home there. She missed him, Diana Ladris, the witch of Coates Academy, actually missed Caine Soren, the one she had always swore she had no feelings for.

Shame was a powerful thing though, and for nearly a month it drove her to avoid him. It was a chance collision in a hallway that made her encounter him again.

For a moment they stood there on the floor, unsure of what to do. Then Caine got to his feet with a harsh snap of, "you should watch where you're going."

Diana narrowed her eyes as she stood up, annoyance flowing through her. She might have avoided him for all this time, yes, but he hadn't exactly tried to talk to her either. And then _he _ runs into _her_ and demands that _she_ watch where she was going!? Now _that _was hardly acceptable. "Oh yes," she mocked, "because you're certainly the most graceful thing to walk the earth."

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

While they might have thought they were Diana and Caine were not alone in the hallway at that moment. Dekka was no gossip and most of the time couldn't give a rat's ass about whatever relationships others were or weren't in, but this time she found herself unable to turn away. So the moment the two collided she hid in the small space created by a door, watching the events unfold.

She really shouldn't care. Diana and Caine had both given her more than her fair share of trouble, it would almost be karma for something like this to tear them apart. Yet she couldn't find herself able to wish her position on anyone else, not even Caine. And if Diana somehow managed to get over her bigotry because of this? Well, that sounded almost too good to be true, but a girl could hope.

After all, sometimes people just needed to open up their minds a little. And maybe, sometimes, the heart was able to do that, even with people whose hearts were probably black as coal.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

Diana saw his hands curl into fists and wondered for a brief moment if he was going to use his powers on her. But no, it seemed that something wouldn't let him, no matter how big a threat to his control over the school she now posed. Instead she growled, "what do you want, Diana? Here to tear me apart? Tell me how much of an unnatural freak I am?"

It took all of her self-control not to flinch at his words, although she could not make herself say anything. That silence was something Caine took for some sort of warning and began to turn away. He wasn't ready for a confrontation, not with her, not yet.

As he began to walk away she snapped herself out of it and reached forward, grabbing his arm. Caine turned around, a snarl on his face, but before he could say anything she snapped, "how thick are you? Do you really think that I was going to destroy you I would wait this long?"

He didn't seem to have anything to say about this, the shocked look on his face saying enough. Taking advantage of his silence Diana managed to say, "I don't care."

She had always imagined that if they kissed, or maybe when they kissed, maybe it had always been a matter of when, he would be the one to make the first move. And yet she found herself leaning forward and pressing her lips against his. Gentle at first, nervous, but soon growing deeper as he kissed back. And, somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized the truth of her words. She didn't care, he was Caine, always had been and always would be. A sociopath, egomaniac, and selfish bastard, yes, but also the only one that could make her heart skip a beat.

**~.~.~.~.~.~**

Dekka had never thought that she would get an apology from Diana.

And for the longest time she didn't.

However, after her discovery and acceptance of Caine's birth gender the bullying had stopped. Well, the bullying about her sexuality anyway. Sure, her choices in clothing would still be mocked often along with any bad hair days she might have, but the constant blackmailing ended.

It wasn't until the FAYZ started that Diana and Caine officially got together, and not until even later that she got her apology. It was quick, just in passing, but it happened. Two little words, two words that showed that people could change.

"I'm sorry."

And maybe, just maybe, this time hypocrisy had been the push someone had needed to throw them in the right direction.


End file.
